Abstract

The efficiency of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for Peyronie’s disease (PD) has been controversial for a very long time. We aimed to evaluate the efficiency of ESWT for PD and provide possible evidence on the basis of a meta-analysis of existing comparative studies. All controlled studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies and case-control studies, that focused on the efficiency of ESWT for PD, were prospectively identified through comprehensive searches of PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase databases. We conducted a meta-analysis of these studies. Six studies including 443 patients were selected for the meta-analysis. Pooling data of these studies showed that ESWT could significantly increase the percentage of men with lessening of penile plaques (odds ratio (OR) 2.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-3.85, P = 0.02), relief of pain (OR 4.46, 95% CI 2.29-8.68, P < 0.0001) and complete remission of pain (OR 5.86, 95% CI 2.66-12.92, P < 0.0001). However, insignificant differences were found in improvement of penile curvature (OR 1.88, 95% CI 0.97-3.65, P = 0.06) and sexual function (OR 2.22, 95% CI 0.69-7.11, P = 0.18) between ESWT and placebo groups. Further, similar results were shown for sensitivity and publication bias analysis when only RCTs were included. However, sporadic complications caused by ESWT were reported, but no patient needed additional treatment aside from conservative observation. ESWT may be an effective and safe treatment for lessening of penile plaques and relieving pain for men with PD, but not for improving of penile curvature and sexual function.